a kitchen without refined carbohydrates

A Holiday Crumble

Coming home from a wonderful holiday is hard. I didn’t want to leave. Maybe it was because it was only one week, instead of two, but really I wasn’t ready to come back. I was not ready for the switch from a two-to-one parent-to-child ratio back to a one-to-one ratio. Not ready to return to dirt dishes, a messy house, and the million little jobs that still need doing. I liked living in a new house with only a few of our things. We certainly didn’t miss all that we left behind. Of course, if we stayed in the new place we’d acquire more over time, but it’s nice to pretend we wouldn’t.

There was still the usual cooking, which I was more or less happy about. I love to eat my own cooking, so it’s not too much of a hassle to do the cooking part as well. But we didn’t have much of a choice, the small coastal village didn’t cater for vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free weirdos people. Not surprisingly. I knew in advance this would be the case and came prepared. For breakfast luxury I brought my own gluten-free pancake mix, and for dessert my gluten-free crumble mix. It was very nice to eat so well.

In a large bowl, whisk the oats, flour, and almonds together. Add cinnamon and nutmeg, and whisk. Pour in the oil, followed by the honey and then stir with a spoon. The mixture will look a bit wet and gloppy.

Fruit of your choice, cut into small pieces. Add honey as necessary. In my experience I’ve needed 3-4 Tbs for a smallish dish of fruit.

Spoon the crumble mixture onto the top of the fruit. It’s a bit like putting cookie dough onto the top of the fruit. Just spread it out the best you can, and don’t worry about gaps. The photo above shows the unbanked crumble so you can see what I mean.

Bake for 25-35 minutes at 180C/350F until bubbling and the fruit is soft when tested with a fork. The top will be a little browned. Enjoy warm.

Until stepping onto the beach last weekend I hadn’t realised just how much I miss the sea. The vast space, the calming sounds, the salty smell. Ah it’s a balm to me even in memory. May the calming influence last long. And may crumble always make me think of the sea.